FILE PHOTO: A emblem of the autonomous driving expertise startup Pony.ai is seen on a display screen throughout an occasion in Beijing, China Might 13, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
Beijing: Self-driving tech firm Pony.ai, backed by Toyota Motor Corp, stated it has obtained a taxi license in China, which is able to permit a few of its driverless automobiles to start out charging fares.
The corporate stated it was the primary autonomous driving firm within the nation to take action.
The startup stated it was awarded the license to function 100 driverless automobiles within the Guangzhou metropolis district of Nansha.
Pony.ai final yr additionally gained approval to launch paid driverless robotaxi services in Beijing and has since begun providing rides.
In Beijing, nevertheless, rides are being provided in a a lot smaller, industrial zone on a trial foundation, a Pony.ai spokesperson stated.
In response to the corporate’s assertion, in Nansha it’ll begin charging fares in the whole 800 sq. km of the district with driverless automobiles. Passengers can hail and pay for rides with Pony.ai’s personal app.
Pony.ai will initially deploy these automobiles with security drivers however expects to take away them “over the brief to intermediate timeframe,” it stated.
The announcement comes at a time when a number of startups are pouring billions of {dollars} into autonomous expertise, aiming to take an early lead in the way forward for mobility.
Pony.ai has been energetic in the US and China, testing its driverless expertise on public roads in California’s Fremont and Milpitas, in addition to the Chinese language cities of Guangzhou and Beijing.
In China, a number of native startups are competing. In latest months, Momenta and automaker SAIC gained official approval for a trial for his or her robotaxi service in Shanghai’s Jiading district, a transfer that adopted an identical transfer in Guangzhou by Nissan-baked Weride .
In Shenzhen, Alibaba-backed AutoX can be testing robotaxis – noticed by security drivers – in a extremely congested city space with a number of pedestrian and moped visitors.
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